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si
Vol.
H
1
THE
WOOD-CARVER'S
ART
IN
ANCIENT MEXICO
BY
MARSHALL H.
SAVILLE
NEW
YORK
MUSEUM
OF
THE
AMERICAN
INDIAN
HEYE
FOUNDATION
1925
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CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM THE
MUSEUM
OF
THE
AMERICAN
INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
VOLUME
IX
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PANDICK
PRESS,
NEW
YORK
CITY
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JAMES
B.
FORD
Generous
and
sympathetic
patron
of
geographical,
natural
history,
and
anthropological
research,
counselor and
friend
of
institutions and individuals
in
their pursuit
of
knowledge,
this volume is
dedi-
cated
by
the
Board
of
Trustees
of
the
Museum
of
the
American Indian
Heye Foundation
in
commemoration
of
his eightieth
anniversary.
New
York,
June
9,
1925
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PREFACE
THIS
study
of the
Wood-carver's Art
in Ancient Mexico
is a
sequence of the
writer's
monograph
on
Turquois
Mosaic
Art
in
Ancient
Mexico,
in the
publication
of
which the
description
and illustration of the collection
of
Mexican
mosaics in the
Museum
of
the
American
Indian,
Heye
Foundation,
were the
chief
object. In like manner
the
main
incentive
for
the preparation of the present mono-
graph is the
description
and illustration of two
splendid
examples
of
Mexican
wood-carving
which
came
to the
Museum
with
the mosaic
collection,
the
gift
of Mr.
James
B. Ford.
As it was
our
privilege to
include
in the former
book all
the
known
examples of
mosaics
from
Mexico, it
has been
equally
our
good
fortune
to
have examined
practically all
of
the
known
specimens
of
wood-carving
in
the museums
of
Europe
and
Mexico,
in
order to complete our
investigations
of
the
subject.
We are
under
obligations
to
the
custodians
of
collections
containing
Mexican
material
in
museums
of England,
France,
Spain,
Italy,
Switzerland,
Austria,
Germany,
Holland,
Belgium, Sweden, and
Mexico,
as
well
as
of the
United
States,
and
we
extend our thanks to them collectively.
Owing
to
their
courteous attentions the writer
is enabled
to include
in
this work
all the important examples
of
the
art
under
consider-
ation which have
been
brought to his notice.
The
picto-
graphic
record
is thus
fairly
complete.
We trust
that
this
contribution to the
knowledge
of
a long-neglected
and
little-
known phase of
the material culture
of
the
early
Mexicans
will lead
to
a
better appreciation
of
the
high
attainments
of
that
people
in this branch
of
the fine
arts.
M. H.
S.
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CONTENTS
PAGE
Dedication
vn
Preface
ix
Introduction i
Sources
of Wood
4
The Aztec Carpenters
and Sculptors
....
10
Tribute
of
Wood
Paid
to Aztec
Rulers
...
16
Uses of
Wood
18
Canoes
18
Bridges 20
Houses
and
Temples
22
Furniture
25
Weapons
28
Ceremonial
Objects
32
Miscellaneous
33
Existing
Specimens
of
Wood-carving
....
35
Atlatls or Spear-throwers
36
Drums
54
Early
Accounts
54
The
Teponaztli
or
Horizontal
Drum
....
64
The
Huehuetl
or Upright
Drum
74
Animal Figures
79
Idols
80
Masks
86
Turquois
Mosaic
Objects
86
Mirrors
87
Mayan Lintels
88
Objects from
the
Chichen
Itza Cenote
....
91
Notes
94
Works
Consulted
107
Addenda
121
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Plates
PAGE
I.
Atlatls, front and
rear views. Museum
of
the
American
Indian,
Heye
Foundation
Frontispiece
II.
Carpenters
at
Work.
{After
various
Codices)
... 10
III.
Cedar
Beam
and
Poles,
Temple
of
Quetzalcoatl,
Ruins
of
Teotihuacan.
(After
Gamio)
18
IV.
Cedar
Beams near Base of
Temple
of
Quetzal-
coatl,
Ruins
of
Teotihuacan.
(After
Gamio)
. .
18
V.
Chairs.
(After
various Codices)
20
VI.
Various
Atlatls
from
the
United
States
and
Mexico
20
VII.
Atlatl
1,
front
and
rear
views.
Museum
of
the
American
Indian,
Heye Foundation
22
VIII.
Atlatl
2,
front and rear views. Museum
of the
American Indian,
Heye
Foundation
24
IX.
Atlatl,
front
and
rear views. Dorenberg
Collec-
tion
24
X.
Atlatls, front
and rear
views.
State
Ethno-
graphical
Museum,
Berlin
26
XL
Atlatl,
front
and rear views.
State
Ethnographical
Museum,
Berlin
26
XII.
Atlatl,
front
and rear
views.
National
Museum of
Mexico
28
XIII.
Gilded Atlatl,
front
and rear views.
British
Museum
30
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XIV
SA VILLE
M
EXICAN
WOOD-CARVING
PAGE
XIV.
Gilded
Atlatl, front,
sectional,
and
rear views.
Prehistoric
and Ethnographic
Museum, Rome.
(After
Bushnell)
32
XV.
Gilded
Atlatl, front,
sectional,
and rear views
National
Museum of Anthropology
and
Ethnol-
ogy, Florence.
(After
Bushnell)
34
XVI. Gilded
Atlatl,
front, sectional, and
rear
views.
National
Museum
of Anthropology and Ethnol-
ogy,
Florence.
(After
Bushnell)
34
XVII.
Serpent Atlatl,
rear,
front,
and side views.
Lenck
Collection, Erlangen
36
XVIII.
Serpent Atlatl,
rear,
front,
and
side views.
Doren-
berg Collection
36
XIX.
Miniature Atlatls
from
an Excavation near
the
Site
of
the
Great
Temple
of
Tenochtitlan.
National Museum of Mexico
38
XX.
Drums.
(After
various Codices)
40
XXI. Plain
Teponaztlis.
a,
Museum
of
the
American
Indian, Heye
Foundation;
b,
British Museum .
42
XXII. Carved Teponaztlis. a, Whereabouts
unknown;
b, Trocadero Museum, Paris; c, State Museum
of
Natural
History,
Vienna 44
XXIII. Carved Teponaztli. Martell Collection
46
XXIV.
Carved Teponaztli.
University Museum,
Basle
.
46
XXV.
Carved
Teponaztli.
British
Museum
48
XXVI.
Detail
of
the
Carved
Teponaztli in
the
British
Museum
50
XXVII.
Carved
Teponaztli.
National
Museum
of
Mexico
52
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ILLUSTRATIONS
XV
PAGE
XXVIII. Carved
Teponaztli,
side views.
State
Ethno-
graphical
Museum, Berlin
54
XXIX. Carved Teponaztli, upper and
lower
views.
State
Ethnographical Museum, Berlin
....
54
XXX. Carved Teponaztli, front view. National
Museum
of Mexico
56
XXXI.
Carved Teponaztli,
rear
view.
National
Museum
of
Mexico
56
XXXII.
Details
of the
Carved
Teponaztli in the
National
Museum
of
Mexico
58
XXXIII. Carved Teponaztlis. a, b, Tepoztlan ; c,
Tula
... 60
XXXIV. Carved
Teponaztlis. a, b, Two sides, National
Museum of
Mexico
;
c, British
Museum .... 60
XXXV. Carved
Teponaztli.
British
Museum
62
XXXVI. Carved Teponaztlis. a, c, National Museum
of
Mexico;
b,
American
Museum of
Natural
His-
tory, New
York
64
XXXVII.
Carved
Teponaztlis and Stand, a,
b, Xicotepec,
District of Huauchinango
;
c,
Locality unknown
64
XXXVIII. Fraudulent
Teponaztli. National
Museum
of
Mexico
66
XXXIX. Opposite side of
Fraudulent
Teponaztli
shown
in
pi.
xxxviii
66
XL. Details of Fraudulent Teponaztli. Museum of
the
American
Indian,
Heye
Foundation
68
XLI.
Plain
Huehuetl.
National Museum of
Mexico . .
70
XLII. Carved
Huehuetl. National
Museum
of
Mexico
.
72
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ILLUSTRATIONS
XVII
PAGE
7.
Stools
26
8. Chest
with
cover
28
9.
Decorated
bow
29
10.
Mexican warriors with bows
30
11. Maquahuitls
or
saw-swords
31
12.
Clubs
.
,
31
13.
Atlatl fragment
40
14.
Atlatls
or
spear-throwers
53
15.
Teponaztli
55
16.
Playing
a teponaztli
56
17.
Miniature models
of teponaztlis
in clay and stone
....
63
18.
Stone
teponaztli
64
19.
Idols
of the
god Huitzilopochtli
82
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THE
WOOD-CARVER'S ART IN ANCIENT
MEXICO
By
MARSHALL H.
SAVILLE
INTRODUCTION
MONG
the fine
arts of
ancient Mexico,
wood-working
has
received
the least
attention
both by early
chroniclers
and
by
modern
writers.
Lack
of
definite
information
regarding wood-carving
in
the old
chronicles
is
noted
by Bancroft, who writes that the
authori-
ties
devote
but few words
to
the
workers
in
wood,
who,
however,
after the
conquest seem
to
have
become quite
skilful
under
Spanish
instruction.
1
Joyce,
in
the latest
manual
on
Mexican
Archeology,*
and Spinden in
his
Ancient Civiliza-
tions
of
Mexico
and Central
America,
3
make no mention
at all
of
the
art
of
wood-carving.
So,
too,
Wissler,
in his
American
Indian,
4
in
the map
showing
the
distribution
of
sculpture,
carving,
and
modeling, restricts the
art
of
wood-carving
to
the
Northwest
coast of North America.
Nevertheless,
the
few
pre-conquest examples
of
this
art
that are extant
reveal
considerable
skill and proficiency
in
the use of
wood.
If
we
may
judge
by the meager historical notices that have been
brought together
in
this
study,
and consider
the
few examples
herein illustrated, we are led to differ
from the
conclusion
of
Bancroft that wood-carving was apparently
not carried
to a
high degree of perfection. It will be
shown
that wood,
carved
and painted
or gilded,
was
extensively
employed
in
the interior of houses and
temples, in fashioning idols,
for
various articles of furniture, and
for
ceremonial
and other
objects.
Highly
intricate
designs were graved
with
a delicacy
not
excelled
by
the work of
any other
people
of
antiquity,
and
certainly
equal to the best carved
work
of
ancient
Egypt.
The
greater
part
of
this
art
is
irretrievably
lost
by
reason
of
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2
SAVILLE
MEXICAN
WOOD-
CARVING
the
perishable character of the
material, hence
the
few
exist-
ing
specimens
must
necessarily
give
only
an
approximate
idea of
the range of
uses to
which wood-carving
was applied.
The master
workmen
in
the carpenter's
trade
exercised
their
craft
in the
embellishment
of
the
many churches
erected
in Mexico during
the sixteenth
and seventeenth
centuries.
A
comparison of
this
later
work
of the
wood-carvers
with
that
of
pre-Cortesian
times
exhibits
clearly
a
skill in
this
line
of
manual
endeavor that
fully
equaled that
of the
best workers
in
stone,
long
recognized
as
a
fine art among the
ancient
peoples
of
Mexico. It
is
due only to the sparsity
of
material evidence
that
students
hitherto have not taken
into
consideration this
additional
proof
of the
high
attainments
of
the Mexicans in
all branches of craftsmanship, such
as
ceramics,
lapidarian
work, mosaic work in stone
and
feathers,
and
weaving.
The
Mexicans
of the present time
are skilful in
all
manner
of
handicraft,
and
are especially
good cabinet-makers.
That
this
skill has
been
inherited
from their
pre-Spanish
ancestors
is
evident,
for
much
of the old furniture
found
in
Mexico,
as
well
as the wealth of
carved
pulpits, altar
pieces
and frames,
chests and other
things
of wood in old churches, are the prod-
uct of
the
craftsmanship
of native
artisans.
Biart
stresses
this point:
A
few
years after
the conquest
of
their
country,
the Aztec sculptors, finding no
more
employment for their
art,
busied themselves in carving,
from
bones
or
from
wood,
ornaments for the altars of churches which
everywhere
took
the
place
of
the native temples.
Succeeding
admirably,
their
works of
this
kind were
soon
preferred by the missionaries to
those which
came from Europe.
6
It
has
not been
the purpose in this work
to
undertake
a
comparative
study of
the
ethnological
significance of the
two
principal
groups
of
wooden
objects
of ancient
Mexico
extant,
namely,
the spear-thrower, and the
horizontal drum.
Our
chief
interest
has been to assemble
and
present
all available
material pertaining
to that
branch of aboriginal
fine
arts
to
which the
book is devoted,
including
descriptions
and
illus-
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I
NTRODUCTIO
N
3
trations
of
those objects that have
not
hitherto been the
subject of
study.
Comparative
studies,
such
as those made
by
Seler
and
Beyer,
to
mention
only
two
of
many
who
have
made
progress in
analyzing the
paintings
and
sculptures
portraying mythological subjects, will, it is hoped, be
ad-
vanced
by the
drawings
of
the beautifully
embellished
atlatls
and
teponaztlis which
are
now
placed before
investiga-
tors for
the first
time.
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SOURCES
OF
WOOD
The
mountains and
slopes surrounding
the Valley
of
Mexico,
as
well
as
certain portions
of
the
valley
itself,
were
formerly
covered
with dense forests
of
large
trees
of
excellent
qualities
of
hard
and
soft
wood,
well
adapted to
the
needs
of
the
ancient
Mexicans,
who built numerous
towns in
the region
at
an
early
date.
Chief among
the cities
was
Texcoco,
the
seat of
another
branch
of
the
Nahuan
or
Mexican
family
to
which
the
Aztec
belonged,
who
established
themselves
in
the
Mexican
valley at
a
later time, their
capital,
Tenochtitlan,
having been
founded
as
late
as 1325.'
Important
information
is
derived
from
the
valuable
Relation del Tezcoco,
written
by
Juan
Bautista
Pomar
in
1582.
This
account,
one
of the
most
important fountains
of
information
concerning early Mexico,
has
been
used
only
too
little
by
students.
Pomar
speaks
of
the
spruce tree,
growing
in
abundance
on
the
hills
in the
vicinity
of Texcoco,
as
being
one of
the
three
principal
woods employed. He
writes:
The
Indians call
this
tree
huiyametl;
it
is a
large
tree,
growing
very
straight, and
some
of
them
are quite
thick,
having
a
girth
near the base of
four
or
five
fathoms
; from these
trees
the
Indians
make
their
great canoes for
navigating the lake.
From these trees
also
they
secure
large
boards
for
doors,
tables,
and boxes.
But the principal
use
is
for
large
beams,
and for wood-work or
wainscoting,
because the
timber
is
very
straight
and
free
from
knots.
Pomar
states
that pine
was
not much
used because of
its softness, only
on
rare occasions
being employed
for
doors
and windows,
its
chief
use
being
for
firewood. Varieties of
oak,
poplar, and
madronos
or
strawberry-wood,
are mentioned,
not
much used except in
sculpture, being
easy
to
work for that purpose. '
In
olden times these forests were
protected
by
stringent
laws of the Mexican kings.
Prescott
has
translated from
the
Historia
Chichimeca
of
Ixtlilxochitl
8
(chap. 46)
a
portion
of
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SOURCES OF WOOD
5
the
chapter
relating to the
laws
of
Nezahualcoyotl,
king
of
Texcoco,
which treats
of
the protection
of the forests
of
this
part
of
the
Valley
of
Mexico.
On
one
occasion,
while
wander-
ing
incognito
in
the vicinity of
one
of the protected
royal
forests,
he saw a boy
gathering
kindling
wood
in
a field,
and
inquired of him
why
he
did
not
go
into
the
neighboring forest,
where
he
would
find
plenty.
To this
the
boy
replied,
It
was the
king's wood
and he would
punish
him
with
death if
he
trespassed
there.
The
royal
forests
were
very
extensive
in
Texcoco,
and
were guarded
by
laws
as severe
as those of
the
Norman tyrants
in England.
A certain
superstition
existed in
ancient
Mexico in
relation
to
the
guardian
spirits
of the forests
it was necessary for
the forester to
give
offerings and make prayers
before under-
taking the work
of felling the trees. In
an important
Brief
Relation of the Gods
and
Ceremonies
of the
Heathen,
by
Pedro Ponce, is an
interesting account
of these superstitions.
Under the
heading,
Those who
cut the wood
called
Quauh-
tlatoque,
it is
stated
that
it is customary
in each town
to
have
designated persons,
who,
when
they wish
to
have
logs
or
other wood
cut,
go
to the woods or forest,
and before
they
begin to cut the wood,
make
an
oration
to Quetzalcoatl, ask-
ing
permission
to do so,
and pleading
that
through
no
lack
of
respect
do
they
wish
to take
out wood from
his
forest.
And
they
ask him to
aid
them
in
taking out that
wood,
and
promise
to put
it in
a
place
where it would
be
venerated by
men. The
log
or
logs
being cut,
and
being tied
so as
to
be
felled,
they
place
in
the
end
(of
the
cut)
a
little
pisiete
[picietl,
tobacco],
and in the middle and at the back,
and
then they
give
it (the
tree)
a
few
blows in the center with
a
beam,
and
invoke
Quetzalcoatl
that
he
should
aid them,
so
that
nothing
bad would
happen
in
the road, and
that
no one should be
in-
jured. And they
do the
same when they transport
large
stones,
and
they
smoke
it
with copal in
honor
of Quetzalcoatl.
Another
writer,
Hernando Ruiz
de
Alarcon, in his
Treatise
on
the
Superstitions
of
the Natives
of New
Spain, devotes a
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SOURCES OF WOOD
7
While
the
forests
in the valley have practically
disappeared,
there
are
still
a
few
extensive
tracts of
virgin
growth
on
some
of
the
slopes
and
hilltops
surrounding
the
valley,
notably
in
the
beautiful region
to
the north of the City
of
Mexico,
back
of the ruined
convent known as
El Desierto
de
los Leones.
It is indeed
unfortunate that, during the
time
of the
adminis-
tration
of
Carranza, great
areas of this
tract
were
cut,
leaving
ghastly
bare
mountain
slopes
in what
should have been
protected forever as a
national
forest reserve.
The
abundance of timber of
various kinds
was utilized
to
the fullest extent
by
the
ancient Mexicans in
the
construction
of houses
and
for
supplying
the
millions
of stakes and planks
required
for filling
the
swamps surrounding
the chain
of
lakes,
all
of
which,
with the
exception
of
Lake
Texcoco,
itself
much diminished
in size, have
now practically
disappeared,
as
recounted by
Prescott.
As
Tenochtitlan
was
a
lacustrine
city,
intersected by
numerous canals
and with
parallel
paved
roads,
and
crossed
by
many
bridges,
through
which canals
innumerable canoes plied
their
way
from neighboring
settle-
ments
on the lake shores, one
may
judge
of
the
enormous
quantity of wood
used
along
the
sides
of
the
canals,
in
the
construction of the
bridges,
and for
the
fabrication
of
canoes.
In the year
1900,
when excavations
were
conducted
on the
site of
old Tenochtitlan
in the City of Mexico,
in
connection
with
the
laying
of pipes for an improved
system of
drainage,
in
the
present
Avenida
de
Guatemala,
back of the cathedral,
many
thousands
of
stakes
were
discovered about fifteen feet
below
the present
level of
the
city,
driven
there
when new
land was needed for
building the Aztec capital.
Parts of
earthenware water
pipes
in
which
crystalline
water
was
still
flowing, were found
at
this
time.
I0
Wood
obtained
from the neighboring
forests
was
offered
for sale daily
in
the
great
market
of
Tlaltelolco.
Bernal
Diaz describes the precinct
where
the merchants
sold
lumber,
boards,
cradles,
beams,
blocks,
and
benches, each
article
by
itself, and
the
vendors
of ocote,
firewood, and other things of a
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8
SAVILLE
MEXICAN
WOOD-
CARVING
similar
nature. The conqueror,
Cortes, writes
of wood
being sold in
the
market,
both
in the
rough and
manufac-
tured in
various ways.
The
woods
commonly
used
were
cedar,
cypress,
pine,
spruce,
oak, laurel,
and
other hard varieties peculiar
to tropical
or
semi-
tropical
regions.
Sahagun
writes: There
are some
wild
trees
which they
call tlacuiloUiquavitl,
that
is
to say,
it
has
painted
wood, because they are of
a
bright
reddish
color
with
black
veins that
appear
as if they
were
painted
over
the
red:
it
is
a very
valuable
tree,
because from
it
they make
teponaztlis,
timbrels
and
vihuelas: these
instruments
give
a loud
sound
when they are made of this
wood,
and
because
they
seem
as
if
painted and
are
of
good
appearance
they
are very
valuable.
I2
The
ahuehuete,
a
cypress-like
tree,
is described by
Hernandez
in
the
following
rather
vague
terms: The only
reason
why
the Mexicans call
this
tree the ahuehuete is
be-
cause
it
is accustomed to grow
near
the
rivers where
water
flows,
and
because
they
make
their
drums
of
it,
which
in
their
tongue
is called huehuetl and
teponaztli,
although others say
that this is not the
reason
it is so called, but
only
because it
grows
near the waters, and that the wind striking (the tree
or
leaves) makes
a
noticeable sound like that made
by
the drums
used
by
the Indians;
they
do
not
make the
drums
from
this
tree, but
of the wood of the
tlacuilolquahuitl and
of the
capolquahuiU.
The use
of
rubber
was
known
to the
Mexicans.
The tree
is
described
and its uses
noted
by
Sahagun
and
others.
Sahagun
describes
the rubber
tree
in
these words:
There are
other
trees
which they
call
olquavitl;
they
are
large and
high,
and
contain
much
liquid. From
these trees there is secreted
that
black
resin
called
ulli;
this
resin called ulli is
very
mechosa
[literally,
having abundant
hair-locks]
;
it
is
medicinal
for
the
eyes, for
abscesses or tumors
and
putrefaction,
and
also is
drunk with
cacao;
it
is
very
beneficial
for
the
stomach,
for
the
intestines,
and
internal
putrefactions,
and
the
bowels
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SOURCES
OF WOOD
9
when
they
are
closed.
This
resin
becomes
very
flexible
and
they
make from it
balls for
games,
and
they
bound more
than
foot-balls
(pelotas
de
vietito).
11
Hernandez, writing of
this
wood,
calls
it holoquahuitl,
or
chilli
tree.
16
He
states that
there are
two
species
of
this
tree,
one of which is found in Mecatlan and
in
Yhualapa,
and the
other in the province of Michoacan. The
word
for
wood
and
for log
in the Mexican language is quauitl.
In
the
recently
distributed atlas containing the
plates
of the
Florentine manuscript of
Sahagun
to
accompany
the
Mexican
text, as yet unpublished,
pis.
97
to
123
and
135
to
138
consist
of
419
drawings picturing
the
trees,
shrubs, herbs,
and
fruits
of the Valley of
Mexico.
16
These are partly
described in
the
Spanish transcript, made
by
Sahagun himself,
and
published
by
both Kingsborough
and Bustamante,
but
without
the
illustrations.
A wealth of information is contained
in
the great
work
of
Hernandez concerning the plants and animals
of New Spain,
together
with
their native
names.
The writings
of both
Sahagun
and Hernandez
attest
to the varied
and
rich
flora
of
the region.
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THE
AZTEC
CARPENTERS
AND
SCULPTORS
In
his
Fifth Decade, written during the conquest,
Peter
Martyr
obtained
much
information concerning the
habits and
customs of the inhabitants of the Valley
of
Mexico
from
Juan
de Rivera, a trusted
messenger
of
Cortes,
who
went
to
Spain
in
1522
in
charge of
the
Aztec loot. In
this account
we
glean
the following concerning the
native
lumbermen and
car-
penters,
and the manner of house-building.
He
writes:
The
heavy
beams
and
pieces
of
timber
used
in
constructing
their
houses
are treated
as
follows
:
The
slopes
of
the
mountains
are covered
with
lemon-trees.
It
is known
that
when
the
Romans renounced
frugality
to give themselves up
to de-
bauchery and
pleasure,
they
used
citron
wood for their
tables
and
beds,
because
this
wood
is always
in
fermentation,
and free from worms and
rot;
moreover
its
planks
are of
various
colors.
Pines
were
also found
mixed with
lemon-
trees
in
the
forests of
these
regions.
By
means
of their
copper
hatchets
and well-sharpened
axes,
the
natives
cut
down
the
trees,
hewing
them
smoothly
and
cleaning
away
the
chips
to
facilitate their
transport.
There
is
no
lack of
plants
from
which they make
string,
cords,
and cables, as
though
from
hemp.
Boring
a
hole through
one side
of
the beam, they
pass
a
cable to
which slaves
are
harnessed,
as
though they
were
oxen under the yoke.
Instead
of
wheels,
they
place rounded
tree-trunks on the road, whether
going
up
or down
hill.
The
carpenters oversee the work, but the slaves
do
the heaviest
part of
it.
All
materials
and whatever
is
required in daily
life is
carried in the
same
way, for they have
neither
oxen nor
asses nor
any animal
as beasts
of burden.
Incredible
stories
are told
of these
pieces
of wood.
I
would
not venture
to
repeat them,
had
not eye-witnesses,
called
before us in full
council, testified that
they
had verified them. Such
wit-
nesses
are numerous. One of these beams found at Tezcuco
is
one
hundred and twenty
feet long,
and
as
thick
round
as
a
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SAVILLE--MEXICAN
WOOD-CARVER'S ART
CARPENTERS
AT
WORK
AFTER
VARIOUS
CODICES
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CARPENTERS
AND
SCULPTORS
II
fat
ox.
It sustains
almost
the
entire
building.
We
are
assured that
this
has
been
seen,
and
nobody
doubts
it.
Does
not this
example
furnish
a
high
idea
of their industry?
In Sahagun's
monumental work
are found
rather
copious
descriptions of
the processes employed
by the
Mexican gold-
smiths,
stone-workers, and feather-mosaic
artists,
but
it
neglects to
record
the
work
of
the carpenters
and wood-
carvers.
Sahagun
describes
what
artisans
of
this
class
should
do,
but
his allusions apply to
Spanish
times,
as he
speaks of
the
necessity of
expertness in
sawing;
but of
course
the
Indians
had no
implements
of
this
nature,
iron
and
steel
being
un-
known
until introduced by
the
Spaniards.
In the Florentine
manuscript
of
Sahagun (pi.
7,
to accompany
Book
I of
the
Mexican text)
is
found a picture
of
a
native
felling
a
tree
with
a
copper
adze
(our
pi.
II, a).
A seated man is
shown carving
a human
figure in wood,
employing
a
wooden
mallet
and
a
long
copper
chisel, the resultant
chips
lying on
the
ground.
In the
same
manuscript
(pis.
36
to
39
to
illustrate
Book
X)
are
depicted carpenters
at
work, but
using
Spanish
tools
and
methods. As an
eye-witness
of
the
Aztec
arts and crafts,
Sahagun gives little
information concerning
the trade
itself.
In
the
Codex Mendoza
is an
illustration
of
a
carpenter
teaching the craft
to
his son
(see
pi.
11,
b).
The father is
represented in the
act
of
hewing
a
small tree-trunk with an
adze-like implement,
presumably of copper.
The text
ac-
companying
the
drawing
reads: The
carpenter,
lapidary,
painter,
goldsmith,
and
garnisher
of feathers,
signify that
those
artificers teach their sons
their
occupation
from their
childhood,
that when they are
men
they might
follow their
trade, and spend their
time
in
things of
virtue,
giving
them
counsel
that of
idleness cometh evil
vices,
and
so
evil
tongues,
tale-bearing, drunkenness,
and
thievery,
and
many
other
evil
vices.
18
In the Mappe
Tlotzin
we
find
a
series
of artisans
analogous
to that
painted
in the Codex
Mendoza:
it is
related to
the
reign
of
Nezahualcoyotl, king
of
Texcoco.
There
is
an
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12 SA
VILLE
MEXICA
N
W O
D-
C
A R VI N
G
Aztec
gloss which
reads
as follows:
Nezahualcoyotl
brought
together
the idols,
gave asylum
to
the
four
nations,
and
assembled
in
quarters of
the
city
the artists
and
artisans.
19
The last of the series
of
figures represents
a wood-carver
occupied
in his profession
(see pi.
II,
c),
with
a copper
adze
having a cord reenforcement
that
holds
the
blade
firmly in
the handle.
On
page 21
of the Codex
Osuna, or
Pintura
del
Gobernador,
Alcaldes
y
Regidores
de
Mexico,
painted
in
1565,
various
trades
are represented
by
the heads
of individuals,
who
are to
serve the
Viceroy
Luis
de
Velasco.
Carpenters
are
shown
by
the
representation
of the
tool of
their trade,
a
copper
adze
mounted
in
a
wooden handle
placed
above two
heads
(see
pi.
11,
d).
M
Mendieta, another early chronicler,
writes
that the car-
penters
and
wood-carvers
worked
wood with implements
of
copper,
but
they
were
not
given
to the
working
of curious
things
like the stone-cutters.
21
Herrera, on
the other
hand,
says that
they
were
very
good
carpenters,
making
boxes,
writing desks, tables,
and
other
things
of much beauty.
22
He
refers, of course, to the early
Colonial
period of Mexico.
We
believe
that stone
adzes,
chisels,
and axes also
were
employed
by
the Mexicans, as
many
small, sharp-edged
implements
of very
hard stone, suitable for cutting
and
engraving hard
wood, have
been
found throughout
the
Mexican
culture areas.
The
Mexican words
for
carpenter,
as found in Molina,
are
quauhxinqui
and tlaxinqui.
The
place where
the trade
was
carried
on
was
called
quauhximaloyan, tlaximaloyan,
and
tlaxincan.
The
craft of
carpentry was quauhxincayotl and
tlaxincayotl.
23
We
can
go
further
in identifying
the
copper adze as
the
principal
tool used
by
the Aztecan
carpenters
and
carvers,
for
in
the
codices
are
many
glyphs of
place-names in
which
copper
adzes and
axes
are depicted,
these
implements being easily
recognized
by
the
different
manner
in
which
they
were
hafted.
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CARPENTERS
AND
SCULPTORS
13
In
the
Mexican language the term
for
a
copper axe
is
tlaximaltepuztli
(tlaximalli, chips
or shavings;
tepuztli, copper).
A
small
axe
is
tlaximaltepuztontli;
a
chisel
of
copper,
tepuz-
tlacuicuiuani,
cuicui-nitla
signifying
to
carve or
sculpture
wood.
An
axe
for
cutting kindling-wood is
tepuzquauhxexe-
loloni.
On the
reverse
of
page 10
of
the
Codex
Mendoza are
the
representations
of
numerous
towns conquered by
the
Aztecan
king
Axaycatl,
who reigned in Tenochtitlan
during
the
years
1470-81.
These
towns
are each
shown
by
a
burning house
to
which
is
attached its glyphic
name.
One of
these places is
Tlaximaloyan
(fig.
1),
whose
glyph
is
a
mounted
copper adze
{tlaxi-
maltepuztli) above
the hewn trunk
of a
felled tree
from which
chips
have
been
cut. The name tlaxi-
maloyan, we
have shown, signifies
a
place
where carpentry
was
conducted.
In fig. 2 are
assembled
five
illustrations of hafted copper
axes
and
adzes
copied
from codices. They
are painted yellow,
the
symbolic
color of copper.
The first
specimen (a),
from
the
Manuscrit du Cacique, formerly
known
as the Codex
Becker, is not the
implement
of
a
carpenter,
but of
a
warrior,
for
it is represented as held erect in the
left
hand
of
one
who
carries
a
shield
and
two
darts
in
the
right
hand.
The
axe
is
painted
yellow or copper color in the
codex,
and
the poll
protrudes
through
the back
of
the
handle.
The second axe
(b)
is the
glyph
of the name of the town of
Tepoztitlan, after
the Tribute Roll
of
Montezuma
24
and
con-
tained
also
in the Codex
Mendoza.
It
is similar
to
the
pre-
ceding
axe,
except
that
the
blade
has a flaring
edge, somewhat
like that of the
adzes,
the blade being
identical
with
c,
taken
from the Florentine
manuscript
of
Sahagun. The
axe
c,
Fig.
1.
Glyph
of
a
copper
adze
and
a
hewn tree trunk
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TRIBUTE
OF
WOOD PAID
TO
AZTEC
RULERS
The
great
population
of ancient Mexico,
especially
of the
Valley
of
Mexico,
required enormous
quantities
of
wood
of
various kinds
in
the form of logs, beams, and
planks, for
many
purposes, exclusive of fuel.
In
the Tribute
Roll of
Monte-
zuma
is
found painted the tribute
paid
to
Montezuma in
firewood,
beams, and planks,
by a
number
of
towns
in
the
vicinity
of Tenochtitlan,
the
capital.
This Tribute Roll
was
copied in the Codex Mendoza, which contains
also,
in Spanish,
an
explanatory
text,
from which
we
translate
literally:
Item, twelve
hundred
loads of firewood which they
paid as
tribute every
eighty
days. More,
twelve hundred great
beams
of
wood
which they paid
as tribute every eighty
days.
More, two
thousand
four
hundred
large
planks which
they
paid as tribute
every eighty
days. In the first publication
of
the Codex Mendoza
by
Purchas
in
1625,
this
text was
translated,
but
a mistake
was
made in
regard to the fre-
quency
of
the
payments
in
wood,
as
it
states
that the
several
quantities
were
delivered
every
four
days.
The
Mexican
month consisted of
twenty
days, hence the deliveries were
made not every four days,
but
every four
months,
or
eighty
days.
The
quantities are represented
by the
feather
attached
to
each
drawing of the tribute,
a
feather
being the sign
for
four
hundred
in
the
Mexican
system of numeration.
A
representa-
tion of the pictures of these
tributes
of
wood
is shown
in
fig.
3.
The
interpretation
of
the
names
of
the
places
indicated
by
glyphs
as
paying
the tribute in
wood
is
given
by
Pehafiel in
his
Monumentos
del
Arte Mexicano
Antiguo,
26
in
the section
relating
to
the Tribute Roll
of
Montezuma.
In
pi. x of the
Pehafiel edition
(page
32
of the
original
manuscript
of the
Codex
Mendoza in
the Bodleian Library
at
Oxford) is
found
this
list
of
tributes. Penafiel's
explanation
follows:
1.
Cuahuacan
[spelled
Quahuacan in the Codex Mendoza,
and wrongly
Quahneocan
by
Purchas],
a
town
of Cuauhtla,
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i6
SAVILLE
MEXICAN
WOOD-CARVING
'place
of
woods'; 2.
Tecpan,
'royal
palace';
2 bis,
Chapol-
moloyan,
'place
where
the
grasshoppers
grow';
3.
Tlalat-
lauhco, 'place
where
the
muddy
water collects'
;
4.
Acaxochic,
the
same
as
Acaxochitlan;
5.
Ameyalco,
'in the
sources
of
Fig.
3.
Tribute of wood paid to
Montezuma
by
towns
in
the Valley
of
Mexico
water';
6.
Ocotepec,
'place
of
ocotes',
resinous pines;
7.
Yeohuitzquilocan,
'place of three thistles';
7
bis,
Coatepec,
'place
of coatl'; 8. Cuauhpanoayam, 'place
where
one
passes
over a
wooden bridge';
9.
Tlatlachco [Tallacha
in the Men-
doza Codex],
'ball-game on an
earthen
floor';
10.
Chichic-
cuauhtla,'
forest of Chichic cuahuitl';
II.
Huitzilapan,
'river
of
hummingbirds'.
More than half
of these
town
names
still
exist
in
the State
of
Mexico, showing
that
the
tribute
came
from places
in
the
vicinity
of
Tenochtitlan.
The
taxes
levied
by
Montezuma on the
towns in the Valley
of Mexico
were
onerous
and were
secretly
resented
by the
people. The
coming
of Cortes and
his
followers,
in
1518,
seemed
to
the simple
and
unsuspecting
natives
to
offer
an
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TRIBUTE OF
WOOD
17
opportunity
to
throw off
the
yoke, which
they
accepted,
only
to
fall
under
a
severer form
of
tyranny.
When
nearing
the
City
of
Mexico, as Bernal
Diaz
states,
all these
towns
secretly, so that
the Mexican
ambassadors
should not
hear
them, made great
complaints
about
Montezuma
and
his
tax
gatherers, who
robbed
them
of all they possessed, and
made
the
men
work
as though
they
were slaves,
and
made
them
carry pine timber and stone and firewood and
maize
either
in
canoes
or overland.
26
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USES OF WOOD
In this
portion
of our
study we
shall consider
briefly
the
information
derived from the
early chronicles
and the
native
codices
concerning the
many
different uses of wood in the
daily and ceremonial life
of the old
Mexicans.
It
will
be
apparent that almost
all the
knowledge
of
this
subject
must
be
gleaned from the sources referred to, as all tangible visible
evidence has
long
ago
disappeared. Canoes, bridges,
houses,
furniture,
weapons, and
most of
the ceremonial objects of
wood no
longer
exist
;
hence
only
from the
painted
codices are
we
able
to
obtain
even
a
faint picture of the character
of this
feature
of the civilization of ancient
Mexico.
We
have
already
drawn attention to the unlimited source of wood
and
the enormous
use made
of
it.
We
shall
now
take
up
in order
some of its uses in the daily life
of
the people.
CANOES
Strangely
enough,
no
ancient
canoes
are
preserved
in
the
National
Museum
of Mexico, although in the United States
canoes
have
been
discovered from
time
to
time in
river-beds
and along
the borders of
bogs
and
lakes.
In the
Museum
of
the
American
Indian,
Heye Foundation, and
in other museums, are
a
number of canoes
from
our Eastern
states, found in such
places.
Our
only
knowledge
of the
shapes of
old
Mexican
canoes
is
derived
from
Fig.
4.
Prow of a
gala
canoe used on
the
.,
,.
T
,,
lakes
in
the
Valley
of
Mexico
the Codices.
In the
Lienzo of
Tlaxcala,
a
painting
by
native
Indians
depicting
the conquest of
Mexico
by
Cortes, canoes are
represented
on
a
number
of
pages.
2 '
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SAVILLE--MEXICAS
WOOD-CAFVER'S
ART
CEDAR
BEAMS
AND
POLES
TEMPLE
OF OUETZALCOATL
RUINS
OFTEOTIHUACAN
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USES
OF WOOD
19
On
page
41
(our fig.
4)
is
found the
only
gala canoe
of
which
we
have
knowledge.
It
is
a
portion
of the
fore-
part
of
the
vessel,
having
a
carved
prow
in
the
shape
of
the
head
of an
eagle, thus
suggesting that canoes
were
elabo-
rately
made for
the use of the rulers
and
other
nobles.
The
paddle
is represented, but the handle end
is
hidden in
the
boat. This
type
of
canoe
must have been
capable
of carrying
a number
of persons and rowers for
state
occasions.
The
other
pictures,
also
from the
Lienzo
of
Tlaxcala, show
canoes
of simple
shape
(fig.
5),
which
held
from
one
person
to
five
or
six
persons, being
simple skiffs of the
Fig. 5.
Canoe
of ordinary
type
type
still
used
in
diminishing numbers
on
lakes
of
central
Mexico.
A canoe
was
called
acalli,
from all,
water,
and
colli,
house.
The
prow
of
a
boat was
acalyacatl,
from acalli,
canoe,
and
yacatl,
the nose
or
front
of
something.
An oar or
paddle was
auictli, or
tlaneloloni.
At
the present time the native
name of
canoe
has
fallen into disuse,
the Spanish form
of
the
word
prevailing.
The laws regarding the
theft
of
canoes
were
strict.
A
person
caught committing
this offense
was required to
pay
the
value
of the canoe in
mantles,
and if not
able to do so,
he
was
enslaved.
28
It will not
be
without interest to quote from two of the
chroniclers
concerning
canoe
traffic
in
Tenochtitlan,
the
Aztec
capital city. An
account of
its canals
and
the
parallel
streets is found in the description
by
the Anonymous Con-
queror,
who
writes: The
city had and has
many
fair
and
broad
streets, though
among them there
are
two
or
three
preeminent.
Of
the
remainder, half of
each
one is
of
hard
earth
like
a pavement,
and
the other
half
is
by
water,
so
that
they
leave in their
barks
and
canoes, which
are
of wood
hollowed
out,
although
some
of
them
are
large
enough
to hold
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20 SA
VILLE
M
EXICA N
WOOD-CARVING
commodiously five
persons. The inhabitants go
for
a
stroll,
some
in canoes
and
others
along the
land,
and
keep
up
con-
versation.
Besides,
there
are other principal
streets entirely
of
water,
and
all the travel
is
by
barks
and
canoes,
as
I
have
said,
and
without
these
they
could
neither
leave
their houses
nor return to
them,
and all the
other
towns being
on
the lake
in
the fresh water are
established
in
the same way.
The other account is found
in
the
Second Letter
of Cortes,
who states:
Canoes
peddle the water
through
all the streets,
and the
way they
take
it from the
conduits is this: the
canoes
stop
under
the
bridges
where
the
conduits
cross,
where
men
are
stationed
on
the
top
who are paid to fill them.
At
the
different entrances
to the
city,
and wherever the canoes are
unloaded,
which
is where the
greatest
quantity of
provisions
enters the city, there are
guards
in
huts
to
collect
a cerium
quid of everything that comes in.
30
BRIDGES
The canals
of
Tenochtitlan
were
crossed by numerous
bridges, of
which
we
find
many
references in
the accounts of
the occupancy of the
city.
In his Second Letter
to
the King
of
Spain, in
which
he
describes
his entry into Tenochtitlan
via
the causeway leading from
Ixtalapa,
Cortes writes that
there
is
a
wooden
bridge, ten
paces
broad, in the very outskirts
of
the
city,
across an
opening in the
causeway,
where
the water
may
flow
in
and
out as
it rises and falls. This bridge
is also
for
defense,
for
they remove
and replace
the
long,
broad,
wooden beams of which the
bridge
is
made, whenever
they
wish;
and there are many of
these
bridges
in
the city,
as
Your
Majesty will
see
in
the
account which
I
shall
make of
its
affairs.
3l
In describing
Tenochtitlan,
Cortes
tells
us
about
its
streets
being
one
half
land,
the
other half water on which
they
go
about
in
canoes.
All
the
streets
have openings
at
regular
intervals
to let the water flow
from one
to
the other,
and
at
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SAVILLE--MEXICAN
WOOD-CARVER'S
ART
;
1
\()
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SAVILLE--MEXICAN
WOOO-CARVER'S
HBBgga
jjj
1,
)jit,
w)
VARIOUS
ATLATLS
FROM
THE UNITED
STATES
AND MEXICO
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22
SAVILLE
MEXICA
N
WOOD-CARVING
HOUSES AND TEMPLES
Throughout
central
Mexico,
and even
southward
in
the
State of
Oaxaca, the
houses of
the
common people were
simple
huts built of adobe bricks, sometimes of stone,
with
flat
wooden
roofs. The religious temples and palaces, and
the
dwellings of
the nobility,
were built
of
stone,
often
two
stories
in
height, with
flat
roofs of timber-work.
In
his
march
to
Tenochtitlan,
the
attention
of Cortes was
directed to
some
new houses which
were in course of building
in
the
suburban
town
of
Ixtapalapa,
just
before
he
reached
the
capital
city of
Montezuma.
In his letter
to
the King he
states
that,
although
unfinished,
they
are
as good as the
best
in
Spain;
I
say
as large and
well
constructed,
not only
in
the
stonework,
but
also in the woodwork,
and
all
arrange-
ments
for
every
kind
of
household
service,
all except the relief
work,
and other
rich
details
which
are used in Spanish
houses
but
are not
found here.
33
Bernal
Diaz,
a
companion
of
Cortes,
states
that
the
houses
in which they
were
lodged during the night spent in
Ixtapalapa
were
spacious
and
well
built.
They
were of beautiful
stone-
work and
cedar
wood, and
the wood of
other
scented
trees,
with great
rooms
and courts,
wonderful
to
behold,
covered
with
awnings of cotton
cloth.
31
In regard
to
the construction of the
great
temple
of Ten-
ochtitlan,
Cortes
notes,
concerning
the
many
temples
com-
posing
the
group,
that they
are so well
built, in
both
their
masonry
and their
woodwork,
that
they
could
not
be
better
made or
constructed
anywhere;
for
all the
masonry
inside
the chapels, where
they
keep
their
idols, is carved
with
figures,
and
the woodwork
is
all
wrought
with designs of monsters
and
other shapes.
35
This
probably
refers
to
the
temple of
Huitzilopochtli.
We
have
further
information
from Bernal Diaz that he noticed
in
one of the
halls
two
altars
with
richly
carved boardings
on
the
top
of
the
roof.
36
These
two
statements
show
that
in
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SAVILLE--MEXICAN
WOOD-CARVER'S
ART
u
ATLATL
1, FRONT
AND
REAR
VIEWS
MUSEUM OF
THE
AMERICAN
INDIAN,
HEYE
FOUNDATION
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USES
OF WOOD
23
many
of
the
great
temples and
palaces
the
ceilings
were
sheathed
with
carved
and
probably gilded
boards.
Pomar
states
that
the
form
and
construction
of
the
houses
of
Texcoco
was low,
with
no
upper story. Some
of
them
were
built of
stone and
lime,
others
of
stone
and
simple clay,
while
most
of
them
were
of
adobe.
The roofs
were
of beams of
wood,
and
instead
of planking there were small
strips
of
wood
so
well
fitted
together
that
none
of the earth
covering
could sift
through.
Most of
the houses
enclosed
a
court
around
which were
the rooms they
required
the dormitories
and
reception
rooms for
the men
in one portion,
and
those
for
the
women
in
another
;
their
storage
place,
kitchens,
and
corrals.
The
houses of
the
principal
men
and
caciques, particularly
those
of
the
kings,
were
very large, with massive
woodwork.
These stood
on
platforms,
the
lowest
of
which
was
six
feet
high and
the highest
thirty
to
forty feet.
The largest rooms
were
more
than
a
hundred
feet
square, and
in the
middle
were
many
wooden
pillars at fixed intervals, resting on great
blocks
of
stone, and on these the
remainder
of the
woodwork
was
supported.
These
rooms
had
no
outer
doors,
only
door-
ways
with
wooden
posts
like those
inside.
The floors were of
white
stucco
or
cement.
In
a
recently
published inedited
relation
on Mitla,
written
by
Alonso
de
Canseco in
1580,
is
found an important
descrip-
tion
of
the
famous
buildings
at that
site
in the
State
of
Oaxaca.
It
tells of the method of
roofing
employed. From
a
close
examination of the external evidence, Holmes has
rightly
conjectured that
wooden
beams
were
used,
but
he
surmised that the
covering
of the
beams
may
have been
poles, twigs, and matting, over
which the roof
of
rubble or
cement
rested.
Canseco's report is
so
interesting that
we
present
a
translation of this part
The
natives make the walls
of
their dwelling houses of
adobes,
covered
with
a
flat roof, and
others
covered
with
thatch
;
and
if they wish to
make
them of stones, they
can well
do it,
for
they
have
much
near
the town, woods (monies)
not
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24
SAVILLE
MEXICAN
WOOD-
CARVING
far
off
where
they
can
take
out
wood. The
other
materials
they
have in
the
town. Besides this, there
are
in
this
town of
Miquitla, two edifices of
the greatest
grandeur
and fame
that
are
(to
be
found)
in this
New
Spain.
They are situated
an
arquebus shot
from the site of the
same
town,
to
the
north
of
it,
and
on
level
ground.
These
edifices are of white hewn
stone;
they rise
equally in importance
some
30
feet. The
first
edifice
is
square;
it
has four
halls, each one of
which
is
105
feet
long and 28
feet
wide.
The
lintels of the
doors
are of
white
stone in
a
single piece running
25
feet
long,
and
on edge
and
width
having
the
dimensions
of
a
man
of
medium
stature.
The
roofing
of these
halls is
of bulky savin-wood
beams
(morrillos),
of
the size
of a
man of medium
corpulency,
which
are
placed
close
together, without any
other
wood. Through-
out
the middle of these
halls runs
a
slab
of wood which is
sup-
ported
by
columns
of stone of the
size
of
a yard
and
a
half
in
thickness.
38
Recent explorations
have shed an
interesting
sidelight on
the
employment
of
wood
in the erection
of
the great temples.
In
uncovering the
temple
of Quetzalcoatl
in
the
great
court of
the
so-called
Citadel
Group
at
the
ruins
of Teotihuacan,
Reygadas
carried
to
completion the excavations
undertaken
by
Gamio.
In
one place
a great
cedar
beam was found
sur-
rounded by a
kind of fencing
for protection
(pi. m).
Near the
southern base
of the
steps
leading to the
top
of
the
pyramid
were
found six
deep
shore holes, in each
of
which
was
set a
great wooden post,
believed
by
the
explorer
to
have served
as trusses to
facilitate the erection of the pyramid
(pi. iv).
These
large
logs
and smaller
rods,
all of
cedar, are
now
pre-
served
in
the local
museum
at
Teotihuacan. It should
be
noted
here that the presence of these logs and rods employed
in the
building
was due
to the
fact
that the front of
this
pyramid, the
base
of which
is
shown
in
pi. iv, was pre-
served
by
the
erection
of
another
pyramid
against
this
side
of the temple, the wood
being
left
in
the
space
between
the
two
structures.
39
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SAVILLE--MEXICAN
WOOD-CAR
BQjjii3L
'
fns^ji)
ATLATL,
FRONT
AND
REAR
VIEWS
DORENBERG
COLLECTION
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USES
OF
WOOD
25
FURNITURE
No
examples
of
the
furniture
and
furnishings
of
the
temples
and palaces of the
ancient
Mexicans are extant.
A
few
meager
facts may be
ascertained from the early writers
and
the
codices, but
the beautifully carved,
painted,
and gilded
chairs,
tables,
screens,
chests,
wardrobes,
and
ceiling
sheath-
ings have
all disappeared.
Sahagun
devotes a
short chapter to the
seats,
writing
that
the
lords
used
some seats, with backs,
made
of sedge
(juncias)
and
of
canes,
which they called tepotzoicpalli
and
which
are
still used.
In
times
past, as
a
demonstration
to
their
lord and
as a
mark
of
dignity,
the seats
were
covered
with skins
of
wild beasts,
such
as
tigers,
lions,
ounces,
wildcats,
and
bear,
and also
with
tanned
deerskins.
They
also
used some
seats
of
small squared
stalks
about a
palm
or
more
high, which
they called
tolicpalli;
these were covered
with
the
same
kinds
of skins as were
those
used by the
lords.
Sahagun further
remarks
that,
when
a
special
dinner was given
by
the
lords,
all
seated
themselves close
to
the walls
upon
petates
[mats]
or upon ycpales [seats]
.
40
Bernal Diaz, an eye-witness
at
the time
of
the conquest,
in
describing
Montezuma's
manner of living,
wrote regarding
the
way
his meals were served: He
was
seated
on
a
low
stool,
soft
and richly worked, and
the
table, which
was also
low, was
made in
the
same
style
as the seats ... As soon as
he
commenced to eat
they
placed before him
a sort
of
wooden
screen
painted
over
with
gold,
so
that
no
one
should
watch
him
eating. If
the
weather
was cold they
built
a
fire
of
scented bark; and
so
that it should not
give
off more
heat
than he
required,
they placed in front
of
it
a
sort
of
screen
adorned
with
figures
of
idols
worked in gold.
There
are no representations of these
carved
and gilded
screens
in
the codices,
but
there are very many
paintings
of the
seats,
or icpalli.
We find in
Molina
that
a common seat or
chair
was
called
tzatzaz icpalli. A
royal
throne or ceremonial
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26
SAVILLE
MEXICAN WOOD-
CARVING
seat
was
tlatoca
icpalli,
a combination of the
word tlatocayo,
crowned
king, and icpalli, seat. Three
of the stools are
shown
in
fig.
7,
of
which
a,
from
the
Codex
Magliabecchiano,
is
without a
back,
and the
god
Tezcatlipoca
was seated
on
it.
Fig.
7.
Stools
The other
two
(b,
c), also
without
backs,
are
the ordinary
low
seats
mentioned
by
Sahagun,
upon
which
animal
skins
were
placed.
PI.
V
illustrates
a
number
of simply
carved
chairs
or
thrones
with
backs, taken
from
various
codices
to
show
their
massive character. The
backs
of seats h and i appear to be
covered with skin,
and i
is exceptional
in having
no
legs.
These
representations
in the codices are
our
only means of
knowing the style of these pieces of furniture.
Wooden
vessels
and
jars
were used
by
the
Aztec, for
Bernal
Diaz
in describing
the
great
market at
Tlaltelolco,
a
suburb
of
Tenochtitlan, mentions gaily
painted
jars
made of wood
which were for sale.
This
undoubtedly refers
to
the so-called
lacquer-work
still
surviving in
Mexico
and
Central
America.
Today the
Indians
of
Michoacan, especially at
Uruapan,
are
famous
for this
class
of
work,
decorating
gourds,
wooden
plaques,
and
table-tops
with
lustrous,
beautifully
executed
patterns. In
the
list
of barter
obtained
by
Grijalva
in
1517
from
the Mexican
coast, we find
noted
four
plates
of wood
covered
with
golf
leaf,
and
the
editor
adds
or
jicaras
like
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ATLATLS FRONT AND REAR
VIEWS
STATE
ETHNOGRAPHICAL
MUSEUM.
BERLIN
nm
mi
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MEXICAN
WOOD-CARVER'S ART
I
ii
ATLATL.
FRONT
AND
REAR
VIEWS
STATE
ETHNOGRAPHICAL
MUSEUM,
BERLIN
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USES
OF
WOOD
27
great
dishes
of
large
calabashes.
42
It
would seem
that the
use of
highly
decorated vessels of wood was
restricted
to the
nobility,
for
the
statement
is
made
in
the
Codice
Ramirez
that the
common
people were allowed
to
use
only
clay
ves-
sels.
43
In two
of
the
undated
inventories
of
loot
obtained
by
Cortes during
the earliest
years of
the conquest,
boxes are
mentioned as
containing
some
of
the
precious
objects and
curiosities sent to
Spain.
44
One of
these,
the
Statement
of
Pieces,
Jewels,
and
Featherwork
Sent
from New Spain
for
His Majesty,
and
that
Remained
in the Azores in
Charge
of
Alonzo
Davila and
Antonio
Quinones, mentions
two
boxes,
two
small
boxes, two
small
square boxes, and
a round
box
lined with
deerskin,
all
no doubt
of
native
workmanship.
The
other
inventory,
Report of the
Things
Carried
by
Diego
del
Soto
from the
Governor in Addition to
what
he
Carries
Listed in
a
Notebook of
Certain
Sheets
of Paper for
His
Majesty, specifically
enumerates
a number
of objects
en-
dorsed,
In
a
large
wide box made in the Indies. Two
other
boxes
are
mentioned,
one
of
which
contained,
among
other
things,
two
abitalles,
which word
we
conjecture
to
be a
misspelling of atabales, or drums,
probably
referring
to the
wooden
drum, the teponaztli. Possibly
these
two
drums
may
be
among
those
which
we
later
describe as
now
being in
one
or
another European museum.
As
to
the
boxes sent
by
Cortes,
we
know
of no
such objects
preserved
in
the museums of Europe. They
were
called
quaiihpetlacalli,
the
component
parts
of
the
word
being
quauitl,
wood;
petlatl,
a mat;
colli,
house.
In
connection
with
their
marriage
ceremonies Camargo
writes that
among the
things
presented
to
a
newly-married couple
by their relatives
were
wooden
trunks
or
chests for
containing
clothing.
45
Regarding the
immense
chests
or
closets
for
garments in the
house of Montezuma,
we
have
an interesting
statement from
Zuazo,
who in
1521
wrote:
They
say that
Montezuma
had
houses
and palaces and halls in
which
a
man
might
be
lost
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28
SAVILLE
MEXICAN
WOOD- CARVING
without
knowing how to
get out
;
and
boxes and chests
of large
size filled
with
clothing, made
of
wood
with covers
that
could
be
opened
and
closed
like
some
colgadizos
(shed-roofs?), and
that
the
bodies
of these
boxes and
chests
were
like houses
of
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